AN EMBLEMATIC STRUGGLE OF INJURED WORKERS IS APPROACHING AN UNIMAGINABLE ANNIVERSARY - FOUR YEARS OF CONTINUOUS OCCUPATION IN FRONT OF THE U.S. EMBASSY IN BOGOTÁ BY ASOTRECOL, THE ASSOCIATION OF INJURED WORKERS AND EX-WORKERS OF GENERAL MOTORS COLOMBIA. JORGE PARRA, THE PRESIDENT OF ASOTRECOL WHO IS WELL-KNOWN TO MANY ACTIVISTS IN THE UNITED STATES, JOINS US LIVE BY PHONE TO SHARE THIS EPIC FIGHT FOR JUSTICE AND DIGNITY.

Ironworkers at Instafab Company, which makes and installs stairs, handrails and other metal building components, have been on an unfair labor practices strike for weeks. The workers report serious safety and health violations, little safety training, irregular schedules, no breaks, no dry shacks and no drinking water onsite. Hear Matt Momb and Laramie Lexow tell their story and their struggle for justice and respect.

Our guest is Terrence (Terry) L. Melvin, President of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionist International. His CBTU presidency succeeds William (Bill) Lucy, the iconic labor leader who had held the position since he co-founded CBTU in 1972. Terry is an ordained Baptist Minister and is no novice to the labor movement, and currently serves as the Secretary-Treasurer of the 2.5 million member New York State AFL-CIO.

During his tenure Terry has championed the development of strong ties between labor, religious organizations and community partners CBTU, which is dedicated to addressing the unique concerns of black workers and their communities. CBTU has has 50 chapters throughout the nited States and in Canada.

DESPITE THE PROMISES OF POLITICIANS SELLING TRADE AGREEMENTS, 90% OF COCA COLA WORKERS IN COLOMBIA ARE STILL MISCLASSIFIED AND MISTREATED AS TEMPORARIES. DANIEL RUEDA ORGANIZES THEM AND TALKS FROM BOGOTÁ ABOUT THAT STRUGGLE WITH ICONIC LABOR ABUSE.
THEN ROBYN GOTTLIEB OF THE OREGON FAIR TRADE CAMPAIGN GIVES US THE LOWDOWN ON "FAST TRACK," THE PROPOSAL NOW BEFORE CONGRESS THAT WOULD IMPOSE MORE OF THE SAME MULTINATIONAL CORPORATE MODEL ON PEOPLE IN THE U.S. AND AROUND THE WORLD.

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California Nurses leader Michael Lighty discusses thedisastrous healthcare legislationnow in Congress, and prospects for the single payer, Medicare-for-all movement on the national and state level. Portland Association of Teachers organizer Dee Simmons expounds on the new union contract and teachers’ struggle for fair and equitable schools.

2010 marked the 25th anniversary of two historic strikes that captured the imagination of workers across the U.S.--the victorious 18-month walkout by 1,000 frozen food workers at Watsonville Canning, and the courageous but ultimately doomed struggle of UFCW Local P-9 at the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota. Peter Shapiro and Al Bradbury interview five people who partyicipated--strikers, supporters, union officers. Their reminiscences bring these dramatic struggles to life and hold lessons for us today.

Labor Radio often brings you stories on real specific, immediate struggles, but tonight's show is about the big picture. We talk with two longtime scholar-activists about labor's strategies to address two of the larger-scope problems we face.

In the second half of the show, we speak with Brian Miller, Executive Director of United for a Fair Economy and one of the authors of the seventh annual State of the Dream Report, released on Martin Luther King Day. This year's report, subtitled "Drained," contains data and analysis that shows how untargeted economic stimulus spending mostly reaches white people, while African Americans and Latinos continue to disproportionately experience economic hardships.

Host Jamie Partridge talks with local Letter Carriers about their struggle against after-dark delivery. Customer service, safety and postal service finances all suffer with a Portland hiring freeze that forces carriers to deliver mail in the dark.

What's the class consciousness of middle management? Who really has the power to subvert our unfair economy?

In the first half of the show we talk with local union member activist and campaign superstar David Delk, member of AFSCME Local 3135, about what Oregon ballot Measures 66 and 67 mean for working people and why he's volunteering his time to make sure they pass.

How should workers respond to the disappointing Senate debate over health care? Three of organized labor's leading single payer advocates---Cindy Young of the California School Employees Association, Matt Schlobohm of the Maine State AFL-CIO, and Tom Leedham of Teamsters Local 206--discuss the Senate bill and the challenges it poses for unions and working people generally.

Host Jamie Partridge talks with Clarence Thomas, co-chair of the Million Worker March movement, a leader of the African American Longshore Coalition, and former Secretary Treasurer of the San Francisco Bay Area’s Longshore and Warehouse Union – ILWU local 10 abouttaking working class organizing to the “next level”.The show ends in a short interview with Anggie Tamayo, a young human rights activist from <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Colombia, South America, about US corporate and military intervention in her country.<?xml:namespace prefix = o />

Tonight's show is about employers who seize the current economic crisis as an opportunity to pit working people against each other and undermine longstanding union rights.

First, we speak with Karyl Feliciano, a Fred Meyer employee, and Jenny Reed, United Food and Commercial Worker (UFCW) union business representative, on large-scale contract negotiations with multiple employers, including Safeway, Albertsons, and Fred Meyer. The Hillsboro Fred Meyer recently called the cops on Jenny Reed and two other union representatives just for talking to union members at the grocery store.

Then, we speak with Bryan Mercer and Sean Jin of the Media Mobilizing Project to take a look at the severe anti-union spin of news coverage of the transit strike in Philadelphia that ended today.

But, it's not all discouraging news today. We'll close with a little good news for workers in the airline industry.

Comments

we would like the opportunity to tell our side of the AFT national trusteeship of our local on July 7. what has happened is a blatant violation of democracy. can we get some air time to tell our story?

I would be very interested in contacting your local and providing airtime for this discussion. Please send me a contact person or a summary of your position. Lane and I will have an official from AFT Local 2277 on our show... and perhaps we could arrange for a represenatative of the national federation to call in.